Verance - About Us. Management, History, and Careers.

Unlocking the power of content.

We invent technologies that advance industry standards and empower next generation experiences.

For Motion Pictures: Our Cinavia solution was selected as the content protection standard for the Blu-ray Disc format, dramatically reducing piracy and increasing revenue to studios.

For Broadcast Television: Aspect is a key component of the ATSC 3.0 standard, powering next generation TV viewer experiences, and promising new revenue streams for both networks and manufacturers.

For The Future: We are dedicated to the exploration of advanced content technology and the power it will unlock for you.

History & Awards

April 1999

Verance is Founded

Verance Corporation forms from the merger of two audio watermark technology development companies.

July 1999

VCMS/A is Standardized

Verance VCMS/A audio watermarking technology is selected as a copyright protection standard for music distribution.

November 1999

Recording Companies License VCMS/A

Verance VCMS/A licensed to five major recording companies for protection of their recorded music.

August 2000

VCMS/A in Portable Music Players

First SDMI-compliant portable music player incorporating VCMS/A is offered to consumers.

June 2001

VCMS/A Mandatory

VCMS/A becomes mandatory for all new DVD-Audio player models.

March 2005

Digital Audio Awards

Hundreds of high-resolution audio titles have been released to rave audiophile reviews, including the 2005 GRAMMY award winner, Dire Straits’ “Brothers in Arms – 20th Anniversary Edition.

January 2007

Studio Adoption

Major Motion Pictures Studios adopt Cinavia to protect their theatrical and home video content.

February 2007

First Oscar

First Oscar award winning motion picture released for digital cinema embedded with Cinavia.

March 2009

Cinavia Deployed to Blu-Ray Disc Players

Millions of consumer Blu-ray Disc™ players begin deploying Cinavia.

December 2009

Cinavia Wins Connect Award

Cinavia wins the Connect Award for Most Innovative Product.

February 2012

Les Miserables

Les Misérables, protected by Cinavia, wins the Oscar for Sound Mixing.

February 2012

Skyfall

Skyfall, protected by Cinavia, wins the Oscar for Sound Editing.

February 2012

Cinavia Mandatory for Blu-Ray Disc

Cinavia protection becomes mandatory for all new Blu-ray Disc playback devices.

February 2013

Gravity

Gravity, protected by Cinavia, wins the Oscar for Sound Editing.

August 2013

Cinavia Deployed to Playstation & Xbox

Playstation 4 and XBOX One next generation game consoles begin deployment and include Cinavia protection.

February 2014

American Sniper

American Sniper, protected by Cinavia, wins the Oscar for Sound Editing.

February 2014

Whiplash

Whiplash, protected by Cinavia, wins the Oscar for Sound Mixing.

January 2015

Emmy Win

Verance awarded an Emmy for Steganographic Technologies for Audio/Video by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

February 2015

Mad Max

Mad Max: Fury Road, protected by Cinavia, wins the Oscar for Sound Editing.

April 2015

ATSC 3.0

ATSC announces its selection of technologies from Verance as the basis for its open watermark standards for the ATSC 3.0 broadcasting standard.

April 2016

NAB Show

Verance demonstrates the first end to end implementation of Open Watermarking at the National Association of Broadcasters tradeshow.

Newsroom

Verance Aspect Expands Its National Footprint With Leading U.S. Broadcasters

Growth in Broadcaster Adoption of the Verance Aspect Watermark Is Fueled by Its Ability to Deliver Household-Level Addressability & Interactivity to 100% of Televisions San Diego, CA, April 17, 2019 – Verance Corporation today announced significant growth in deployment of the Verance® Aspect™ watermark by leading broadcasters across the country. Building on an extensive list of …

Verance, Dolby & San Diego’s KPBS Successfully Complete First Test of Personalized Audio for Next Gen TV

The Verance Aspect Watermark and Dolby AC-4 Deliver Leading ATSC 3.0 Consumer Experiences in a Live Linear Broadcast Over Cable & Satellite San Diego, CA, April 4, 2019 – Verance Corporation and Dolby today announced they successfully completed a test of internet-delivered dialogue enhancement, one of several compelling Next Gen TV Personalized Audio experiences for San …

Verance and Fincons Group Form Partnership to Accelerate and Expand the Development of Next Gen TV Experiences in the U.S. and Europe

San Diego, CA, and Milan, Italy, January 22, 2019 – Verance Corporation today announced it has partnered with Fincons Group to accelerate and expand the development of Next Gen TV experiences in the U.S. and Europe. This partnership combines Fincons Group’s expertise deploying Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV) applications with the Verance Aspect watermark technology, which …

Data Plus Math and Verance® Aspect™ Partner to Bring Next Gen TV Attribution Measurement to Broadcasters

New York, June 13, 2018 – Data Plus Math, a leader in television attribution, ROI and conversion metrics, today announced that it has entered into a preferred partner agreement with Verance® Aspect™, an open watermark technology selected as part of the ATSC 3.0 Next Gen TV Standard, to bring analytics and attribution measurement to broadcasters. …

Verance Boosts Asia-Pacific Presence, Naming Next Gen TV Innovator Heeyong Park As Korea Country Manager

Former Samsung Executive to Partner with Electronics Industry on Verance® Aspect™, Enabling Next Gen TV Experiences for Viewers, Boosting Sales for Manufacturers & Creating New Revenue for Broadcasters San Diego, CA, June 12, 2018 – Verance Corporation today announced it will further increase its Asia-Pacific presence, naming television industry innovator Heeyong Park as its Korea Country …

Verance to Showcase ATSC 3.0 Personalized Audio, Ranked in Consumer Surveys Among the Most Compelling Next Gen TV Experiences, at NAB

Verance® Aspect™ and Dolby Partner to Enhance Next Gen TV by Delivering Personalized Audio Capabilities across All Distribution Paths San Diego, CA, April 6, 2018 – Verance Corporation today announced it will showcase the personalized audio capabilities of ATSC 3.0, ranked in consumer surveys among the most compelling Next Gen TV experiences, at NAB. Using the …

ATSC 3.0 Emergency Alerting, Information Make Big Strides At NAB Show (TVTechnology)

LAS VEGAS—Advanced emergency alerting as part of ATSC 3.0 demonstrated at the recently concluded 2019 NAB Show has evolved into a tightly knit system, not restricted simply to the delivery of imminent threat warnings but also conveyance of useful emergency information.

Verance Aspect Watermark Enters New Markets (TVTechnology)

SAN DIEGO—As part of relationships with News-Press & Gazette Broadcasting, the National Association of Broadcasters and Pearl TV, broadcasters in Santa Barbara, Calif., Cleveland and Phoenix are deploying the Verance Aspect watermark, per Verance Corporation.

Verance Aspect Expands National Footprint With US Broadcasters (Advanced Television)

Verance Corporation has announced significant growth in deployment of the Verance Aspect watermark by broadcasters across the US. Building on an extensive list of existing partners, Aspect has expanded into the Santa Barbara, Cleveland and Phoenix markets as part of relationships with News-Press & Gazette Broadcasting (NPG), the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), and Pearl …

Verance Aspect Expands Its National Footprint With Leading U.S. Broadcasters (Broadcasting + Cable)

San Diego, CA, April 17, 2019 – Verance Corporation today announced significant growth in deployment of the Verance Aspect watermark by leading broadcasters across the country. Building on an extensive list of existing partners, Aspect has expanded into the Santa Barbara, Cleveland and Phoenix markets as part of relationships with News-Press & Gazette Broadcasting (NPG), …

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Management

Deb McDermott

Nil Shah

Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Nil Shah joined Verance Corporation as Chief Executive Officer in January 2006. Prior to joining Verance, Mr. Shah held senior executive positions in the media industry with a record of building successful companies. His executive experience has included CEO of [x+1], Inc. (formerly Poindexter Systems), a marketing software and services company focused on online advertisers as well as CEO of Interelate, Inc., an analytic customer relationship management solutions company which provided hosted CRM solutions to Fortune 1000 clients. Mr. Shah was also an executive with Trans National Group, an international marketing services firm serving the telecommunications, financial services and travel industries, where he focused on essential business issues of customer acquisition, retention and cross-sell. Prior to Trans National, Mr. Shah worked on the fixed income derivatives trading desk at Salomon Brothers. Mr. Shah holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BS in Physics from Yale University.

Joe Winograd

Executive Vice President & Chief Technology Officer

Dr. Joe Winograd is the Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Verance Corporation and has directed the company’s development of watermark technologies and solutions since 1995. Dr. Winograd led Verance’s efforts to establish the company’s technology as the industry standard for movies, television, and music and has guided its deployment in hundreds of millions of consumer electronics and entertainment products. He represents the company in multiple standards bodies and industry consortia and has been a featured presenter at numerous industry events. Prior to joining Verance, Dr. Winograd was engaged in research and development in the areas of digital signal processing and technical computing and contributed to products from MathWorks and Wolfram Research. Dr. Winograd holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Boston University and B.S. in Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Dean Angelico

Executive Vice President, Operations

Mr. Dean Angelico joined Verance in 2000 and is responsible for the development and delivery of all Verance products and services. He leads Systems Engineering, Software Engineering, Quality Assurance, Product Management, Technical Services, and Network Operations. Prior to Verance, he served as Senior Manager of Product Development for Siemens-Opuswave (formerly Omnipoint), where he delivered the industry’s first interworking gateway between GSM cellular and Voice over IP (VoIP) systems. Prior to Omnipoint, Mr. Angelico served as VP of Engineering for Tetherless Access, where he developed and deployed wireless Internet access products for use in the unlicensed frequency bands. He also spent 8 years developing CAD and networking software for such companies as Sun Microsystems, Xerox PARC and Vantage. Mr. Angelico began his career developing telecom systems for Bell Labs. He holds an MS in Computer Engineering from Stanford University and a BA in Mathematics from McGill University.

Mario Petrocco

Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Mario Petrocco joined Verance Corporation in 2000 as Chief Financial Officer. He is responsible for the company’s finance, licensing, and human resources groups. Prior to Verance, Mr. Petrocco served as Vice President/Treasury & Tax for two years at the Gymboree Corporation. Mr. Petrocco spent 8 years in various treasury positions with Chela Financial, Inc., a leader in the secondary market for student loans, and Chemoil Group of Companies, the largest independent marine fuel distributor in the United States. Mr. Petrocco was a co-founder and principal of Ceres Capital, Inc., which provided consulting, and investment banking services to middle market companies, including manufacturers, chemical processors, and broadcasters. Mr. Petrocco also worked for Petro-Lewis Corporation where he served in a range of staff functions. Mr. Petrocco holds an MBA in Finance and a BA in Economics from the University of Denver.

Michael B. Ayers

Senior Vice President, Business & Legal Affairs & General Counsel

Michael Ayers joined Verance Corporation in 2010 as Senior Vice President for Legal & Business Affairs and General Counsel after more than a decade of experience in the content protection business as legal counsel for Toshiba Corporation. Mr. Ayers’ involvement in content protection matters includes the application of multiple technologies to a wide variety of digital media and content, including DTCP for high-speed bi-directional home networks, CPRM for SD Card and recordable DVD formats, and CSS for Hollywood movies on DVD. For six years, he actively led AACS LA, LLC, the entity formed by Disney, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Panasonic, Sony, Toshiba and Warner Bros. to develop and license the AACS content protection technology used for high-definition movies on Blu-ray Disc. Mr. Ayers’ work has also included digital TV standards in Europe as part of the DVB Project and more recently the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE), a multi-industry effort to create standards and an infrastructure for enabling the flexible use of digital content from a variety of sources across a variety of consumer devices. Mr. Ayers is a registered patent attorney. He holds a BS in Aerospace Engineering and a Master of Public Administration, with an emphasis in Information Systems Management, from the University of Southern California. His J.D. is from Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa, California, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Whittier Law Review.

Jason Patton

Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing

Mr. Jason Patton joined Verance Corporation in 2017 as SVP, Sales & Marketing. He has extensive executive experience developing and driving business efforts for innovative digital technologies in both the U.S and abroad. Prior to joining Verance, Jason was VP/GM at Immersion, a Silicon Valley-based company focused on interactive advertising and games powered by haptic technology. For nearly a decade, he managed business development at In Demand based in New York City, serving most recently as SVP, Business Development. He was responsible for launching In Demand’s interactive two-way on demand offering across the United States. Prior to joining In Demand, Jason worked at AT&T’s corporate office in both Business Development and Mergers & Acquisitions. Jason holds both a BS in Broadcast Journalism and a BSBA degree in Finance from Boston University and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Deb McDermott

A Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame honoree and prominent industry executive, Ms. McDermott has led broadcasting organizations since 1996 when she became EVP-Operations for Young Broadcasting. During her tenure at Young, she was a member of the Board of Directors and ultimately became President and CEO of the company. Following the Young Broadcasting & Media General merger, Ms. McDermott became the COO of Media General. After Media General was acquired by Nexstar in 2017, Ms. McDermott led a group of seasoned media executives in creating McDermott Media Group, a broadcast and digital media consulting firm. Verance is one of McDermott Media Group’s key clients. Ms. McDermott has served as Chair of the National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE), Chair of the ABC Affiliate Board of Governors, and has been a member of the Boards of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB). Ms. McDermott is a graduate of South Dakota State University.

Award-Winning Careers at Verance

Unlocking the power of content requires the power of talented people. Our technology has won an Emmy award and movies using our solutions have won Oscars. And our talented people tend to stick around with an average tenure of over 8 years.

We need smart, enthusiastic people who want to advance their career in a fast-paced, collaborative, cutting-edge environment. There are great benefits, including our amazing San Diego location.

Reach out at [email protected].

Unlocking the power of content.

We invent technologies that advance industry standards and empower next generation experiences.

History & Awards

Verance is Founded

VCMS/A is Standardized

Recording Companies License VCMS/A

VCMS/A in Portable Music Players

VCMS/A Mandatory

Digital Audio Awards

Studio Adoption

First Oscar

Cinavia Deployed to Blu-Ray Disc Players

Cinavia Wins Connect Award

Les Miserables

Skyfall

Cinavia Mandatory for Blu-Ray Disc

Gravity

Cinavia Deployed to Playstation & Xbox

American Sniper

Whiplash

Emmy Win

Mad Max

ATSC 3.0

NAB Show

Newsroom

Management

Nil Shah

Joe Winograd

Dean Angelico

Mario Petrocco

Michael B. Ayers

Jason Patton

Deb McDermott

Nil Shah

Joe Winograd

Dean Angelico

Mario Petrocco

Michael B. Ayers

Jason Patton

Deb McDermott

Award-Winning Careers at Verance

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